Plant protector



Sept. 6, 1927. 1,641,244

c':. H. WOODRUFF PLANT PROTECTOR- Filed Dec. 15. 1923 XNVEN TORCfirwtsm' If. Wand!! v Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

UNITED STATES CHRISTINE WOODBUII, O! WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

imam rao'rnc'roa Application filed December 18, 1928. Serial No.880,384.

My inventionrelates to agricultural implements and more particularly toa protective covering for young and tender plants.

, :After a plant has been transplanted and during the period that itstender and fine roots are gettin into capillary contact with the soiland untl the plant has obtained sufficient size to resist its naturalenemies, it is necessary that the plant be protected from the IQ severeconditions of nature as well as from worms and insects. Tothis end, itis customary for the gardener to cover the young plant with eitherapiece of paper or some other makeshift. However, such makeshifts arenot always satisfactory as they are not fitted to meet all oftheelements which may work injury to the plant, such as intense sunlightand heat, rost, rain and windand cut worms and insects which pervade thegarden.

It is accordingl the main object'of my invention to provi e a plantprotector which will overcome the objections above ex lained and whichwill not only be servicea le, for guarding the plant from rain. wind,frost and the like but will ward' off the major portion of the intensesuns raysand yet permit a desired amount of the life-givmg heat andlightto be transmitted to the plant. It is a further ob'ect of myinvention to rovide a simple,

evice which may be easil manufactured and sold at a low cost, whic maybe quickly assembled and safely shipped and stored, M and which may beplaced in position over the plant with the ininimum expenditure of laborand time.

It is a still further object of my inven tion to provide a simple devicewhich may be adjusted easily and at will to provide more orlessventilation for the plant and yet which will remain firmly anchoredin 'a wind storm-and insure the right amount of protection for theplant.

with these and other objects in view, as be apparent to one skilled inthe art. my invention resid s in the combination of parts set forth in te specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Referrin to the drawings which illustrate one embod lmentof my'mv'ention and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts: I

protector;

urable. and economicalv Fig. 1, is a perspective view of my plant Fig.2, is the vertical section thereof showin it in position on the ground;

- Iig. 3' is a top plan view of the wire frame support of the device;

Fig. 4, is a plan -View of the paper coveron ing after it has been cutand before it is assembled on the frame; and

Fig. 5, is a fragmentary front elevation showing the cover slightlylifted.

In accordance with my invention, I make a plant protector casing 10 of asuitable in- I expensive material, such as paper, and mount and supportthe casing, shaped as a tube, on a frame 11 which isarranged to beinserted into the ground. A disk shaped cover 12- v is adjustablypositioned over the upper open end of the tube in order to provide'adesired degree of ventilation within the plant protecting chamber, thewall of the tube being suitably perforated to aid in carrying out 7 thisobject.

If paper is em loyed for the tube material, I preferab y select a heavytough paper which has been rendered 'waterroof and non-combustible, suchas ma be ound 8 on the market. In orderthat su dued sunlight and heatmay reach the plant, I use a paper which'transmits yellow rays to someextent, but is not transparent to all light waves. This insures that theplant will not be overheated and hence become wilted during theprecarious period after the transplanting operation.

A convenient shape for the translucent paper tube is that of a truncatedcone, the smaller end of the frustum'being at the top.

. This makes it feasible to use a small cover and better protect theplant from the ele-, ments. It, however, will be understood that the.shapes and sizes of the various arts, and the nature of the material empeyed,

is immaterial except insofar as defined by the appended claims.

One simple manner of forming the tube and cover is to fashion them froma single piece of paper, as'shown' in Fig. 4. The cover 12 may be madeintegral with the tube wall, suflicient paper stock being left at thejunction to form a hinge 13 therebetween. While the tube ends may beglued or other wise fastened together, I prefer, for the sake of-vconvenience in manufacturing, assembling and shipping, to lap the edgesof the paper and pin them together by means of v a portion of thesupporting frame threaded 11o throu h perforations provided adjacent tothe edges of the paper for this purpose.

The supporting frame is so constructed as to reinforce the flexiblematerial of which the tube ma be made, as well as t9 serve as astandarfor anchoring and holdmgthe frame firmly over a lant. As a convenientand cheap material t erefor, I refer to use a continuous iece of wire anI shape it to form a reinforcing loop 14 of circular configuration,which is arran to fit preferably within the tube near its upper end. Thetwo ends of the wire serve to fasten the ends of the paper to ether toform the tube, and to support t e device on the ground. As illustrated,one end 15 may be threaded through the perforations 16 and 17 formednear the edges of the aper, the wire issuing outward] through t ealigned openings 16, paming ownwardlp1 along the tube wall and theninwardly t rough the lower set of perforations 17, whence it passes incontact with the innerside of the tube to the bottom and depends belowas a support-.

in leg 18. The other wire end 19 is similar y passed through theperforations 20 and serves to stren th and support that portion of thetube w ich is diametrically opposed to the lapped edges.

One simple way of making this frame is to bend the wire in the form of aloop and then cross the endsas shown at 22 in Figs. 1 and 3. The end 16is bent downwardly to form one of the legs and the other portion ispassed diametrically across the loop to form a stiffening brace 23 overthe wire at the opposite side, where itis bent downwardly to form theother leg 19. If desired, a drop of solder may be applied at the point24 where the leg 19 touches the loop 14, or these parts may be welded orotherwise secured together to hold the members firmly in position.

One important feature of my invention is that the cover shall be suported and held firmly in either a close or a partially opened position.This may be accom lished by providing the cover with along epend- 25 andso constructin the various parts t at this flap may be hel frictionallyin any desired position. 7

One simple expedient is to make a slit 26 in the tube throu h which thefia may be inserted,the slit ing narrow an of such size that the ed aord a frictional grip upon the flap. 0 supplement this act1on, I preferto locate the leg 19 of the frame in the rear of this slit and to haveit fit snugly against the inner wall of the tube. By passing the flapthrough the slit 26 and downwardly between the tube wall and the leg 19,I obtain a frictional res'sure upon the cover flapthat will hold itsecurely in an desired position. The tube is provided wi suitablylocated ventilating openings 28 so be readily assembled.

be obtained.

Bymaking the cover ali h y larger than the openi at the o the tube, rainor snow may, .absolu prevented from entering, and owing to e-sha nowater will accumulate on e top.

As illustrated, the u per holes 16 are placed near the top of t e lappededges so as to limit the relative downward movement of the wire frame.-The loop 14 is of such a size as. to be'capable of insertion through thesmall and of the frustum and make a fairly close lit with the inside ofthe tube near its upper end. The. pa er tube is shown somewhat distortedin ig. 2 to indicate clearly how the rods or legs are threaded throughthe understood however, t at the flexibility o the materials employedrmits the parts to he construction is such that the gardener may pick upthe device biy; grasping the tube near its upper end and t on thrust thewires into the ground by a straight downward movement. The cross member23 of the frame stiifens it for resisting such handling.

It will therefore be seen that I have providcd in this construction asimple and serviceable device which will insure adequate protection fora young lant after it has been trans lanted and w ich may be quicklyadjusts to fit all types of weather.

In view of the above disclosure, various changes in the construction andshape of the parts will be obvious to one skilled in the art, and suchmodifications and equivalents are to be considered as falling within thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A lant protector comprising a singleP1606 0 paper shaped to form a tube, a hinged cover for one end of thetube and a flap arranged for adjustment of the cover, a wire framehaving a. loop fitted within the upper portionof the tube to strengthenand support the same and a depending leg projectmg below the tube forinsertion into the ground and means to hold the flap in an adjustedposition.

2. A plant protector comprising a paper tube having an adjustable coverover the upper end thereof, and a single piece of wire bent to formaloop and two depending legs, the loop being located within the upperportion of the tube to strengthen and support it and the legs beingarranged to support opposite sides of the tube and be insorted into theground.

8. A lant protector comprising a si la sheet 0 flexible translucentwater-proo ed material bent in the form of a tube and havmg perforatedlapped edges, a wire rforations, it bein of the parts having a loopwithin the tube to support and strengthen it and a leg inserted throughsaid perforations so as to secure the edges together and hold the tubein shape, a portion of said frame depending below the tube for insertioninto the ground to form a support for the tube, a cover for the upperend of the tube, and means to hold it in a closed or a partially openedposition.

4:. A plant protector comprising a single sheet of paper having perfoated edges lapped to form a tube, a cover for the top opening integralwith and hinged to the tube and having a depending flap for adjustingthe height of the cover, and a wire frame within the tube having a legthreaded through the perforated lapped edges to hold th tube in shape,said parts belng so arranged that the flap may be frictionally heldbetween the tube wall and the wire frame in a desired position.

5. A plant protector comprising a tube, an adjustable cover for theupper end thereof, a frame formed of a continuous piece of wire having aloop contacting with the inside of the tube, one end of the Wiredepending from one side of the loop and the other end passingdiametrically across the loop and thence downwardly within andcontacting with the inner wall of the tube, said legs being threadedthrough perforations in the tube to hold the parts together.

Signed at New York city this 12th -day of December, 1923.

CHRISTINE H. WOODRUFF.

